Kevin Cuneo: Perry's sailors to be honored

Kevin Cuneo

March 18, 2013 12:01 AM

Kevin Cuneo

March 18, 2013 12:01 AM

In addition to the big Perry 200 Parade on May 25, a new monument at the Erie Cemetery, honoring sailors buried there who died as a result of the Battle of Lake Erie, will be dedicated that morning. Unknown sailors were reinterred there in 1859 after their bones were unearthed during construction of the railroad below the bluff near the foot of Parade Street. They were originally buried there, with little fanfare. Erie Cemetery General Manager Clark Kuebler and Betsy MacKrell have been digging through old records to learn more about the sailors. "So far, we haven't unearthed too many facts," MacKrell said. The identities of the servicemen, who could be American and British, are unknown. Sailors who died in that battle were typically buried at sea, while officers were buried at Put-in-Bay, near where the naval fight took place. But it's believed some men died on the trip back to Erie, and perhaps they are the unknown servicemen who were originally buried here in 1813. As Kuebler and MacKrell continue their research, a group headed by Tom Hagen has been working to secure a 6-foot granite monument marking the final resting place of the men, who are buried in a 16-by-18-foot plot. It will be dedicated at 10 a.m., so that those who attend the ceremonies will be able to make it to the parade on time. ... Former Erie Fire Chief Art Jaskiewicz, who died last week at age 88, was a good guy who always went out of his way to lend a helping hand. ... Judge Dan Brabender, whose book "Ramblers -- History of Cathedral Prep Football" is one of the best records ever compiled on local football, is researching a similar book on Prep basketball.

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Dave Filoni, supervising director of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," was interviewed at length last week in the national media about the conclusion of the long-running animated series. Filoni is a 1996 graduate of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. ... In a moving presentation Thursday of the Richard Arrington Award at Universal Notre Dame Night at the Kahkwa Club, John McCormick gave a warm tribute to the late All-American. Arrington had been a tremendous athlete at East High School before enrolling at ND. Cathedral Prep's Erik Swanson, who won the award, plans to continue his football career at the University of Pennsylvania. ... This has been a sad time for my friends Dave and Marge Lefaiver, whose fathers died just days apart. They have so many fond memories, however, of two good men, Elliot Lefaiver and Jim Fromknecht. ... Don Lewis, who served as assistant U.S. attorney in Erie in the 1980s, recently published his fifth book, a mystery titled "Rizzo." Now living in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Lewis, who also served as Crawford County district attorney, wrote a book called "The Police Officer in the Courtroom" that's often used as a textbook in college criminal justice courses. ... Mercyhurst Prep graduate Nick Adams landed a big role in the touring company of "The Little Mermaid," which will play in Pittsburgh July 9-21. You can bet many of Nick's friends and relatives will be in the theater for those performances. ... Art "Pops" Robinson made many friends in Erie during his trips here when he stayed with his son, Dave Robinson, and Dave's wife, Mary, and family. Art's recent funeral in New Jersey attracted many people who thought the world of him. ... Film star James Garner, in his memoirs, "The Garner Files," said Fred Biletnikoff was his favorite football player. Garner, star of "The Rockford Files," also said he smoked marijuana for 50 years.